The present invention relates broadly to ion generation, and in particular to the generation of binary, heterogeneous, coated, cluster ions.
The state of the art of ion generation is well represented and alleviated to some degree by the prior art apparatus and approaches which are contained in the following U.S. Patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,278,351 issued to Null et al on Oct. 11, 1966;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,462,954 issued to Weinert on July 31, 1984; and
U.S. Pat. No. 4,540,884 issued to Stafford et al on Sept. 10, 1985.
The Null et al patent describes the apparatus and method for the production and the storage of high concentration free radicals, which are represented illustratively by solid state atomic hydrogen laminated with molecular hydrogen for use as a propellant in projecting satellites into orbit, as a high explosive.
The Weinert patent is directed to an energy cell. A self pulsating nuclear reactor plant is comprised of a reactor cylinder concealing a pair of mobile nuclear mass blocks chosen for pendent radially motion inside a radial cylinder.
The Stafford et al patent describes a method of mass analyzing a sample of use of a quadrupole ion trap type mass spectrometer. In a quadrupole ion store or ion trap type mass spectometer, significantly improved mass selection is achieved by simultaneously trapping ions within the mass range of interest and then scanning the applied RF and DC voltages or the frequency .omega. to sequentially render unstable trapped ions of consecutive specific masses. These are passed out through apertures in an end cap to a high gain electron multiplier to provide a signal indicative of the ion mass.
Advances in the field of ion trap design have progressed rapidly and in response to the requirements of the state of the art. In order for the process to be utilized to its fullest potential, two developments need to take place: First, the development of large volume traps (or arrays of traps) for the storage of large quantities of (potentially large) cluster ions. Current traps routinely confine ions in a small volume of space (&lt;1 cm.sup.3) and with mass-to-charge-ratios of only a few hundred AMU/q (atomic mass units per unit charge). Extension to volumes approaching 1 M.sup.3 with trapping potentials for ions with mass-to-charge-ratios of a few thousand AMU/q are desirable. Ion trap technology is a well developed field (in existance for more than 30 years) such that only minor modification of the existing theory (Mathieu equation) would be necessary. An alternative to the development of large volume traps is the development of array ion traps that have the capability of efficiently transferring less strongly bound ions to other discrete traps. The current state of the art is that double traps (with transport capability) are in the early stages of development. Ion trap arrays are simply an extention of the double trap idea, but with the intent of having improved transfer capability and significant (volume) storage capacity. Second, the further development of large hybrid ion trap structures. These constitute traps for ions that utilize static as well as dynamic electric and magnetic fields simultaneously or in some combination in order to achieve the desired hybrid trapping potential surfaces. A simple example of a hybrid ion trap would be a Penning trap that can instantaneously be turned into a RF (or Paul) trap and back again, if need be, without requiring a change in any of its physical dimensions.
While the above-cited references are instructive, a need remains to provide a method of producing heterogeneous coated cluster ions. The present invention is intended to satisfy that need.